sodagreen

Taiwanese powerhouse sextet Sodagreen specializes in breezy indie rock that veers from energetic anthems to stirring ballads. Formed in 2001, the group has been a mainstay on the Mandarin-language music scene, releasing a steady string of efforts, starting with their 2005 self-titled debut. Centered on lead vocalist Greeny Wu Qing-Feng's distinctive vocals, the band -- Claire Hsieh Shin-Yi, Kay Liu Jia-Kai, Wei Shih Jun-Wei, "A Fu" Ho Jing-Yang, and "A Gong" Kung Yu-Chi -- followed with 2006's Little Universe and 2007's Incomparable Beauty, which helped them land Best Band two years in a row at Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards. In 2009, they released Daylight of Spring, the first of four volumes in their proposed "Vivaldi Project," which aimed to hit all four seasons. Summer/Fever, Autumn: Stories, and Winter Endless completed the concept by 2015. The following year, they cleaned up at the Golden Melody Awards, earning Best Mandarin Album, Band, Lyricist, Album Producer, and Musical Arrangement. At this high point, they announced a hiatus. When they returned in 2020, things were different. Under the name Oaeen (a play on the syllabic endings of "So-da-green"), they revealed that the change was due to a trademark dispute with their former producer. They released an album under the new moniker, 2021's Strange Pool, and began their own "Sodagreen's Version" re-recordings of past albums, starting in 2022 with their debut (which was buffered with a handful of new tracks). That year, they also remade 2006's Little Universe, with Incomparable Beauty and 2008's sodagreen sing with me receiving the same treatment in 2023. That February, they announced that they had recovered the name Sodagreen (despite their former label still retaining ownership of their old masters). And so, the reclamation project rolled on into 2024 with re-recorded versions of 2010's Once in a Lifetime, 2011's What Is Troubling You, and Daylight of Spring. ~ Neil Z. Yeung